Conspiracy Theory: The MLB is Telling Players to Fight

Over the course of just a few days, shit has the fan at Coors Field. And at Fenway Park. And at Busch Stadium.

I’ll start with Colorado. After having a pitch thrown behind him by San Diego Padres starter Luis Perdomo, Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado immediately threw down his bat, flipped off his helmet, and charged the mound intent on decking Perdomo. It seemed a little weird, seeing as these teams don’t have any historic bad blood (do they?), and not all that much had happened in the game to prompt it. Trevor Story had been hit earlier – potentially as a retaliation for the Rockies hitting Manuel Margot – but that was it. This was the type of hit-by-pitch that should have sparked Aranado to stand at home plate for an elongated period of time staring at Perdomo, and the umpire then giving both benches a warning. It shouldn’t have exploded immediately into a brawl.

Yet it did. As if lit by a fuse, Aranado went nuts as soon as the ball passed behind him. After charging Perdomo, he landed numerous punches on the San Diego pitcher, which promptly caused the benches to clear (as they normally do in baseball brawls). The next thing we knew, Coors Field was a boxing rink, as players from both sides were throwing haymakers at one another. Eventually, five players were ejected from the game.

In their coverage of the melee, Yahoo! Sports had made an interesting point: “Players weren’t out there keeping the peace as much as usual.” I didn’t think much of this at first: of course they weren’t, they were sticking up for their players! But then I began to flash back to the diamond brawls of the past, and realized that – apart from one or two hotheads – most players are normally seen holding their fiery teammates back. They recognize the stupidity of the fight, don’t want anybody to get hurt, and definitely don’t want their player to face a hefty suspension. But yesterday, all that appeared to be thrown out the window, replaced instead by punches thrown out liberally.

Only a few hours later, the same thing happened in Boston. A third-inning incident that saw New York’s Tyler Austin slide maybe a little bit too hard into Brock Holt led to some contentment, which then steamed up like a pressure cooker throughout the game until it all erupted in the seventh, when Sox reliever Joe Kelley hit Austin with a 98 mph fastball. Austin promptly charged the mound…and Kelley encouraged it. As ESPN put it: “As Austin jogged up to Kelly, the pitcher appeared to egg him on, motioning for him to step forward.” As if Kelly had, well, wanted it.

Now that’s just Yankees and Red Sox, you say. They fight all the time. Fair. This is, I will argue, the most heated rivalry in sports – an explosion of any sorts is not uncommon between Boston and New York. But you know what’s not a heated rivalry? The Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres. Or the St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Because curiously enough, yet another diamond fight erupted out of nowhere in St. Louis only a few days prior. It didn’t start with a hard slide or a hit by pitch – it started with a coach arguing balls and strikes. When Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo came out to argue a call with the home plate umpire, he must have then said something to Cardinals Catcher Yadier Molina – because Molina then pulled an Aranado and exploded without warning. The next thing we knew a player was fighting a coach, and (again) both benches cleared.

Disclaimer: the following is an unfounded, cynical, potentially stupid conspiracy theory. But what if the powers that be in Major League Baseball have actually encouraged players to fight a bit more?

In a sick way, it would actually make sense. Over the past couple of years, baseball has been hit with a bombardment of criticism from modern sport fans who claim that America’s Pastime is “too slow” and “too boring.” These primarily come from sport lovers who are addicted to fast-paced competition and get real riled up on things like big (dangerous) hits in the NFL and when the gloves come off in hockey. In my opinion, these complaints are baseless in MLB, coming from fans who don’t appreciate baseball’s pace – which I see as rhythmic, not as slow.

But the critiques are there, whether I like it or not. And baseball has responded, hasn’t it? We now have a pitch clock between innings (below) to move the game along, we now limit the number of mound visits coaches are allowed per game, and there are plenty of other new initiatives intent on speeding the game up and making it more interesting. The World Baseball Classic, for instance, now begins all extra innings after the 11th with the hitting team starting off the inning with a man already on second.

What would satisfy the hungry, physical-contact addicts more than if baseball players fought on a regular basis? I’d hate it if this was the case – but it’s not unfathomable to imagine some sort of behind-the-curtain suggestion coming from an unnamed source at MLB headquarters, nudging ownership to encourage their players to get a bit more vicious with their retaliations and not be afraid to charge the mound a bit more. Violence sells; fights would probably get ratings.

Now again, I’m not saying this is the case. But this past week has been weirdly violent in a sport that I love for being, well, non-violent. It will be interesting to see what the reprimands for the San Diego/Colorado brawl are. If they are minimal, I personally will be slightly suspicious – because that was a terrible fight that warrants heavy punishment.

And it’s way too early to make any sort of claims based on these two fights – but if this trend continues and we begin to see the benches clear more and more…hm.

#Opinion